bookshoplaura

(Photo courtesy of Hailey K Stuart)  This Saturday just gone I found myself bravely heading out into the night on my own without the crutch of alcohol to steady my nerves. I was dressed in what can only be described as 70ish clothes. A patterned top and unflattering somewhat flared jeans with wedges that were hidden under the jeans and a fringed bag. I was on my way to the fourth Songs From the Parlour event which was 70s themed so I was not just dressing up for the fun of it but I had not pulled off the look with the same easy glamour that most women seem to. I had arranged to meet at least one of the women from Girlcrew in a bar beforehand but I was so unsure of who was actually going that I almost talked myself out of it several times before deciding to go and then rushing to get my very disobedient hair into flicking out and staying there. I just arrived at the bar on time feeling very self conscious and wishing I was ordering something more soothing than water. I was wait...

Anyone who knows me will know me as a reader and if you don't then the book tucked into my handbag and my excitement upon entering a bookshop should give me away. As with any avid reader my lust for books ebbs and flows depending on what else is going on with my life. My high point reading wise was during my time in the book shop when I had free reign over hundreds of books as they came in to the store and I read voraciously during that time. It has fallen off a little since I left because indulging my reading habit to the fullest extent would probably leave me unable to pay my rent. I also have the mitigating factors of my high stress job where I work many hours often leaving me too tired or marshmallowey brained to delve into a book of any worth, In the last few months my reading habits have changed a little. I am working my way back up to my usual speed of reading and slowly picking up the quality again after a few months of low brow crime and shamelessly bad chick lit. T...

My boyfriend and I introduced a date night a few weeks back. I work crazy hours and my boyfriend has events almost every other weekend so we don't see a lot of each other and apparently watching me go to bed early is not considered a real activity. So we decided to have one night midweek as a date night, usually Wednesday and on that night we do something together like a normal couple. So far we have been out for food once but mostly we go to the cinema which is hardly terribly exciting but I've enjoyed the films we've seen and its nice to deliberately spend time together. Tonight after much debate we decided to go to Burzza. I was really in the mood for pizza and I knew they had a gluten free option. Initially we were planning to come straight home after and watch a movie together. We sauntered into Burzza at just after 7 and I had thought it being only Thursday that we would get a table no issue but the place was buzzing so we were lucky to get one.  We were atte...

I should start by saying I don't live a particularly glamorous life, I just couldnt think of a better title. On Thursday night just gone my boyfriend and I headed to Wexford town for the premiere of the movie Staid. All I knew heading down is that several musicians we knew were on the soundtrack and I should probably dress up. Naturally I panicked and ended up in this floral number that was more cute than anything and looked like a child playing dress up. Seeing as I'm nearing my 34th birthday I should probably abandon any hope that I might get the hang of dolling myself up. We didn't account for the traffic crawling into New Ross as we joined the masses making their way home so we ended up in Wexford with only moments to spare. This is when I realised a crucial fact, I don't know how's to navigate my way around Wexford town at all which left us at the mercy of Google maps to direct us to the Opera house. It got us there through a maze of one way streets with no...

As vegetarians go, I am not exactly doing us justice in my representation. By that I mean I eat a reasonably limited amount of vegetables. I might have expanded my tastes somewhat since childhood but I have the terrible tendency to mostly eat the same meals on a loop and if anything I am in danger of dying of boredom from this bland repetition. I have frequently over the last few years said I must change up my diet but whenever I go looking for different things I might eat I struggle to find anything or else I save a recipe into some unknown part of my computer and then never look at it again. My fall back food is always spelt or sourdough bread which is delicious but its also making me sick (because of the gluten) and fat. Back when I worked in the bookshop I would waste a lot of time when I was supposed to be working perusing the healthy section of the cookery books in case I'd find a cookbook full of stuff I could eat. Everything was either full of meat, sugar or gluten and it...

This was one of my very treasured weekends off so naturally I had all the lie ins. Oh no wait I was very busy Saturday and then sleep deprived and even busier Sunday, oh well. My sister had asked me a few weeks back if I could take my nieces for a few hours over the weekend as they had an event on and then I heard like two million ads on Beat fm for an event on in Rathwood the same weekend it seemed like fate. Little Bo peep has lost her sheep and you have to help her find him. You go around on the Rathwood train stopping to feed geese and see baby lambs plus you get a free cupcake and cuddly lamb (well the kids do). It all sounded totally adorable and my nieces were all for it so I booked us in for Sunday and then went about my busy week. Come Sunday morning when my alarm went off I did briefly regret my offer to go gallivanting with two young children as I had a pretty terrible nights sleep. Not because I was out making new friends and drinking water but because my other half...

Last Saturday night I found myself out for the night with a group of women I had never met before. It was my first proper outing with Girlcrew aside from the two occasions last year I had met people for coffee. If you are not already familiar with Girlcrew then let me give you a brief introduction. Girlcrew is a hub for women who are looking to make new friends. Sometimes its because they have moved/ changed jobs/ gotten married or divorced and find their social group has drifted. I have been living in Waterford a long time now and yet I find I don't really know anyone down here so when I first heard about Girlcrew South East I was really excited. I joined immediately and met up with people twice and then nothing. I work pretty mad hours and I am also taking a bit of break from alcohol so I found the get togethers that were happening either clashed with my work schedule or were too daunting a prospect for me. So I mostly just looked on in envy at the happenings being posted on th...